30 Kisses for Kyouraku ShunsuixUkitake Jyuushirou
by methionine
Summary: 30 kisses, out of order. Ongoing. PG13. This is all yaoi or shounenai. Please do not click if you don't know what that means.
1. 11: gardenia

These are for the original 30 kisses themes. They are not in order. I do both fic and art, though I excel at neither. For art, please visit my deviantart (my website, on my profile)

11. Gardenia - And What if I Did?

(this one accompanies a quick picture I did. and since I can't seem to link things in this annoying little box, I will give you a url with spaces. ;; http:// i57.photobucket. com/albums/g212/chocolatemango/30xx/small-1 .png copy and paste and remove the spaces, thanks.)

Morning. Jyuushirou opens his locker, and a flower drops out. He picks it up, looks it over, and his lips curve upwards wryly.

Lunchtime. Hasn't had a class with his friend yet; he'll see him in Physics (AP, of course) that afternoon.

He goes to find him.

He's off flirting with girls of course, accosting one right now by her locker. Ukitake waits paitiently at the end of the hallway, smiling. Shunsui finally waves goodbye to her (blowing a kiss, no less), and notices him leaning against the wall, and grins.

When he's close enough, Jyuushirou pins him to the wall, holds up the object in question, and says,

"You sent this flower to me, didn't you."

Shunsui lets himself be cornered with no resistance. His reply, not unexpectedly, is to bend down to his dropped bags and pull out a heart-shaped chocolate (probably from the multitudes he always carries around on Valentine's Day), slipping back into Ukitake's grasp. He moves with his usual languidness, and Ukitake is as always, patient. He can smell the sweet confection now perched at his mouth.

"...and what if I did?" ♥

"It's a gardenia."

"And so it is."

Afterwards, Shunsui's only comment was that Jyuu-chan tasted like chocolate. He was awarded a genial whack on the head for pointing out the obvious, of course.


	2. 1: look over here

Look over here - no title

Shunsui smiles fondly as he watches the latest wannabe-shinigami recruits being shepherded off to their classes.

He remembers a certain young scallywag who went to the academy, well-liked by most, even though he was a slacker full of bravado who was always chasing girls (and a certain boy, too) .

He also remembers doing ridiculous things for attention, often disrupting the class and earning him a disciplinary lecture (sometimes even from old Yama-jii himself).

Kyouraku Shunsui had been the class clown of his day. He shouted answers, flaunted his skills, and basically showed off shamelessly at every chance. Looking back upon it now, he _had_ been quite foolish. Still, he had felt it was worth it, if it would only attract the attention of a particular white-haired boy who sat at the back for even a few seconds.

He still felt the effort was worth it, countless years later and somewhat wiser, because one day, a very exasperated Jyuushirou had pulled him aside after class and told him that he _knew _what Shunsui had been trying to do, and if he had _wanted_ his attention that badly, he could have just _talked_ to him, goddammit, instead of disrupting the _entire class_ during an _important lesson_ , and just how was he supposed to learn _anything_ with an attention span like that anyways, and if he kept doing things like this, Jyuushirou was going to start thinking that Shunsui wasn't actually very smart, for goodness sakes. And then he shoved him into a corner, kissed him full on the lips, and walked away huffily to his next class, books tucked neatly under his arms as if nothing had happened, leaving a shocked Shunsui leaning against the wall, lightly touching his lips as if he couldn't believe that had just happened.


	3. 2: news, letter

2. news; letter - no title

Shunsui writes letters to Ukitake on a daily basis.

They're not particularily serious letters, nor very long. Sometimes they consist of something as simple as "Jyuu-chan, how are you today?" Sometimes they ramble on and on about how his _lovely_ Nanao-chan had taken away his sake and forced him to go to a meeting today, and wasn't she just so cruel, Jyuu-chan? And sometimes, they suggest devilishly dirty ideas that still make Ukitake blush after hundreds of years. Honestly, it's amazing when he thinks about how Kyouraku can come up with all of it.

No matter what though, they always show up some way or another. Whether they fall out of his sleeves, are left mysteriously on his desk, are hidden under his cup of morning tea, or are discovered in whatever ingenious way Shunsui has thought of today, they always appear as if by magic, a small piece of love to cherish every day.

Sometimes he writes back too, a simple reply in his elegant handwriting. Mostly he just reminds him to finish his work and not to harass Ise-san too much. Neither of them ever sign their names, but there's no way Ukitake can mistake that cheerful scrawl, nor can Kyouraku miss Ukitake's gently teasing language.

Ukitake smiles and chuckles to himself as he reads the scrap of paper he found tied to the hilt of his zanpakuto this morning. _Of course I will, Shunsui._

_Dear my kawaii Jyuu-chan,_

_Are you feeling alright this morning? I woke up and realized that I had dreamed about a giant red bean bun last night. Did you know they could fly? .;; I didn't. The red bean bun was chasing a stuffed penguin, I think. The penguin was awfully adorable. Will you buy me a stuffed penguin, Jyuu-chan:D 333333_


	4. 4: our distance and that person

4. our distance and that person - Memories in the Rain

Shunsui awakens in the middle of the night to an empty space at his side. Rubbing his eyes, he pushes the covers aside and gets up. The rain patters against the lake's ripple surface, cold and dreary.

He finds Ukitake sitting outside wearing only a light yukata. Raindrops melt seamlessly into his hair and roll off his skin like tears.

"You're soaked," Shunsui murmurs unnecessarily into his ear as his arms slip around him.

"It's alright. This is an old yukata anyways," Ukitake responds, not moving.

"But you'll get sick."

Ukitake turns to look at him, a trace of irony in his voice. "doesn't really matter much, does it, Shunsui?"

He knows that it would be futile to argue. Not when Jyuushirou's like this. They sit there quietly in the pouring rain, staring into the grey sky as rain splashes around them.

"You're getting wet too, you know," Ukitake quietly observes after a while.

"I know."

"Why don't you go back to sleep? I'm alright out here. Really."

Shunsui shakes his head against Ukitake's neck and pulls his frigid, sodden body closer. "No."

Ukitake leans forward, sliding away. "Shun, just go," he sighs, but Shunsui keeps a firm hold on him.

Suddenly, Shunsui lets go and Ukitake wonders if perhaps, for once, Shunsui has actually listened to him. However, he soon reappears, gaudy pink haori in hand. He drapes the flowery garment around Ukitake's shoulder, making a sharp contrast to their surroundings.

"It's the memories, isn't it."

He says it as a fact, as a statement without the uncertainity that accompanies a question, and it is for that reason Ukitake has no response. They both know the answer. It hangs heavily between them, like a weight about to crash down. Both of them can not forget. Ukitake will never forgive.

All Shunsui wants to do is hug him, embrace him, and tell him again and again, until he finally understands, it's i not his fault /i . But he knows Ukitake will never accept that. It's just the way he is. Was there anything anyone could have done? If Ukitake had not been suddenly hit by coughing spasms, could he have at least saved Rukia from having to kill him? Ukitake will never stop thinking about that even if he lives another two thousand years. They'll never know.

A solitary tear rolls off Jyuushirou's cheek as he collapses back into Kyouraku, coughing lightly. Shunsui clutches him tighter out of habit.

"I should have died back there," he whispers hoarsely. "It should have been me. Not Kaien." Shunsui just barely bites back a scream of frustration.

Ukitake cares for his subordinates too much. Not that he himself does not, but Jyuushirou takes it so damned _hard _when anything happens. Kyouraku had not been deaf to the gossip surrounding the 13th division's captain and vice either. And although he knew their relationship had been entirely platonic, no one could deny that they had been very close. That is why it simply breaks his heart every time Ukitake says thing like this. Kaien would have hated it too.

Kaien could probably have probably dealt with it better, even. He would have thought of something to say. But Shunsui is not Kaien. He never will be. And although he and Ukitake have been the closest of friends for countless years, he will never be able to fill that place.

And so he says nothing, because all he can do is hold him, as they both remember their memories in the rain.


End file.
